Hathras’s victim was cremated in the middle of the night near his home on September 30.
New Delhi:
The Allahabad High Court will oversee all aspects, including the IWC investigation into the alleged gang rape and death of a Dalit girl from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court said today. The superior court said a request to transfer the trial outside UP “has been left open” until the investigation is completed. The higher court was hearing a series of petitions seeking a court-supervised investigation of the case.
“As regards the transfer, it is appropriate that the investigating agency complete the investigation,” said a bank headed by Chief Justice Bobde.
The court noted that once the investigation is completed, the transfer of the case can be considered. “As of now, CBI is dealing with it and there is no cause for apprehension,” he added.
The higher court, which issued the verdict on a series of allegations that a fair trial was not possible in Uttar Pradesh as the investigation had allegedly been a botch, also asked the IWC to present the status report of the case to the High Court. .
The court, which also included Judge AS Bopanna and Judge V Ramasubramanian, also asked the Allahabad High Court to remove the victim’s name from one of its orders in a PIL pending there.
A 20-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper caste men in Hathras on September 14. He later died of his injuries in a Delhi hospital. The victim was cremated near his home on September 30.
Police handling of the case, in particular the nightly cremation of the victim allegedly without family approval, sparked angry protests across the country. Officials, however, said the cremation was carried out “according to the wishes of the family.”
The victim’s post-mortem report has said he suffered a “cervical vertebra” fracture. Police have claimed that the forensic report revealed that the woman was not raped.
With contributions from agencies
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